Dispensers or holders for rolled products with braking mechanisms are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,788,573 discloses a dispenser for paper towels and toilet paper having a spindle with ribs. The dispenser has a yoke mechanism that prevents the rotation of the spindle by interacting with pins attached to the base of the spindle. A key feature in this holder is the implementation of the yoke mechanism which stops the rotation of the spindle when the yoke mechanism is positioned properly. An adjustment means is also incorporated into the holder that affects the friction applied to the rotating spindle and any attached paper product. These features require additional effort on the part of the user to operate the paper product roll dispenser. Complicated braking mechanisms and rotation control devices, such as those used by this type of holder lead to further manufacturing costs and time. Additionally, loading products onto and operating such a holder is complicated by these cumbersome features.
Other paper product holders (e.g., such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,878,631 and 5,125,586) provide features that attempt to address the problem of preventing the uncontrolled rotation and unraveling of paper towel rolls. In both instances, the prevention of rotation of the paper product roll is accomplished by engaging the interior diameter of a paper product tube with spines that are either affixed to a tube, or are attached to a sleeve that rotates on the tube. Friction is exerted on the interior of the tube with the spines affixed or on the interior of a spiny sleeve. Force exerted on the tube is transferred from the tube spines to the interior of a paper product tube. As with other paper product holders the friction means requires multiple moving parts which increases manufacturing cost and time. Moreover, by introducing a friction adjustment means these holders have added complexity to the design, which the main factor that increases the costs of manufacture. These features also reduce the aesthetic appeal of the holder, and make the holder more difficult to operate.
What is needed, then, is a rolled product dispenser that can control the rotation of rolled product on a dispenser with a frictional element that requires no moving or complex parts. Additionally, what is lacking in previous incarnations of paper product holders is a design that accomplishes the task of preventing uncontrolled rotation of paper products without increasing load time. Secondarily, the apparatus should accomplish these tasks with a dispenser that is viable both vertically and horizontally.